Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards vs. Beans: Loyalty & Rewards: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right retention tools is often a source of significant friction for Shopify merchants. With dozens of options in the Shopify App Store, determining which loyalty program will actually drive repeat purchases without adding unnecessary complexity to the store operations is a high-stakes decision. Loyalty programs are no longer just about giving away points; they are strategic engines designed to improve customer lifetime value and lower the reliance on expensive customer acquisition through paid ads.

Short answer: Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards is a modern, high-performance option best for fast-growing DTC brands needing advanced customization and world-class support. Beans: Loyalty & Rewards offers a gamified approach with a structure that scales based on order volume, making it a viable alternative for stores focusing on social actions. Both apps serve distinct needs, though brands seeking to eliminate tool sprawl often look toward more integrated solutions.

This comparison provides a detailed analysis of the features, pricing, and strategic fit of Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards and Beans: Loyalty & Rewards. By evaluating their strengths and limitations, store owners can make an informed choice that aligns with their specific growth stage and technical requirements.

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards vs. Beans: Loyalty & Rewards: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

Core Loyalty and Referral Functionality

Retention strategies rely on how effectively a merchant can incentivize a second, fourth, or twelfth purchase. Both Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards and Beans: Loyalty & Rewards offer the fundamental building blocks of a loyalty program, but they execute them with different focuses.

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards positions itself as a modern solution built on the latest Shopify technology. The app provides a points-based system where customers earn rewards for various actions, which can then be redeemed for discounts or other incentives. A key differentiator for Rivo is the frequency of its product updates. With weekly releases, the app stays aligned with Shopify’s evolving infrastructure, such as Checkout Extensions and the latest customer account versions. This focus on "Shopify-first" technology ensures that the loyalty experience feels native to the storefront and does not cause performance lag.

Beans: Loyalty & Rewards approaches loyalty through the lens of gamification and lifecycle marketing. The app emphasizes turning one-time shoppers into brand advocates by rewarding not just purchases, but also registration and social actions. This focus on "magical marketing experiences" is intended to keep customers constantly engaged. Beans provides effective loyalty email campaigns that are designed to be tailored to a brand’s image, helping to maintain a consistent voice across different touchpoints.

Tiered Rewards and Customer Segmentation

VIP tiers are essential for identifying and nurturing high-value customers. By offering exclusive benefits to those who spend the most or shop the most frequently, merchants can drive significant increases in customer lifetime value.

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards includes VIP tiers in its Scale plan. This allows merchants to create different levels of membership, where higher tiers provide better earn rates or exclusive rewards. The Rivo Plus plan takes this further by offering advanced analytics and custom integrations, allowing brands to segment their data and trigger specific events based on a customer’s tier status. The inclusion of a developer toolkit in the Plus plan suggests that Rivo is designed for brands that want to build highly bespoke experiences that go beyond standard templates.

Beans: Loyalty & Rewards also offers the ability to segment loyal customers into tiers. This enables merchants to build tier-specific campaigns with exclusivity, which is a powerful way to make top-tier customers feel valued. Beans places a strong emphasis on these exclusive campaigns, suggesting that the tool is built for merchants who want to run targeted promotions to specific segments of their audience. This level of segmentation is crucial for reducing churn among the most profitable customer segments.

User Experience and Customization Controls

A loyalty program that looks out of place can damage a brand’s credibility. Merchants need control over the visual presentation and the technical implementation of their rewards pages.

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards offers a fully customizable loyalty and referrals platform. On the Scale plan, merchants gain access to advanced branding features, including custom CSS and fonts. This ensures that the loyalty widget and dedicated landing page match the store’s design language perfectly. For brands with more complex needs, the Rivo Developer Toolkit provides a path for full customization, allowing for a headless or highly integrated experience that aligns with modern DTC aesthetics.

Beans: Loyalty & Rewards provides tools to customize the rewards program page to suit the brand’s image. It includes a notification widget and social login features to lower the friction for customers trying to access their rewards. While the customization options are present, the overall rating of 3.5, as specified in the provided data, may indicate that the user interface or the ease of customization is not as seamless as some merchants might expect. However, the inclusion of a dedicated loyalty page and email automation tools indicates a focus on providing a complete customer journey within the app.

Integration Ecosystem and Tech Stack Compatibility

No Shopify app exists in a vacuum. The ability to sync loyalty data with email marketing, customer support, and SMS tools is vital for creating a unified customer experience.

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards boasts a strong integration list, working with major players like Klaviyo, Gorgias, Postscript, Attentive, and Fuego. It also integrates with Shopify POS, Flow, and Checkout Extensions. These integrations allow for automated workflows, such as sending an SMS when a customer earns enough points for a reward or displaying a customer’s loyalty status to a support agent in Gorgias. This level of connectivity reduces the manual work required to maintain the program and ensures that loyalty data is used across all marketing channels.

Beans: Loyalty & Rewards also offers a variety of integrations, including Klaviyo, Omnisend, Facebook, Instagram, and Mailchimp. The focus here is heavily on social and email channels. By integrating with social platforms, Beans allows merchants to reward actions like following the brand or sharing products, which can help grow the brand’s organic reach. While the list is extensive, it is worth noting that Rivo’s integrations seem more focused on the high-growth DTC stack (Gorgias, Attentive), whereas Beans leans more toward social proof and traditional email marketing.

Pricing Structure and Operational Scalability

The pricing models for these two apps differ significantly in how they scale with a store's growth.

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards uses a mix of order-volume limits and feature-gating.

• The Free Forever plan allows for up to 200 monthly orders and includes basic points and branding.
• The Scale plan, at $49 per month, removes the order limit (according to the description "Access to all features") and adds VIP tiers, custom CSS, and analytics.
• The Plus plan, at $499 per month, is a significant jump intended for enterprise-level brands needing checkout extensions, developer tools, and priority support.

Beans: Loyalty & Rewards uses a strictly order-based pricing model.

• Beans Pro 100 costs $29 per month for up to 100 orders.
• Beans Pro 400 costs $49 per month for up to 400 orders.
• Beans Pro 1000 costs $99 per month for up to 1,000 orders.
• Beans Pro 2000 costs $199 per month for up to 2,000 orders.

The Beans model is very predictable but can become expensive as order volume grows, even if the merchant does not need additional features. Rivo’s Scale plan offers a potentially better value for money for stores that have high order volume but do not yet require the enterprise-grade features of the Plus plan.

Support Quality and Merchant Sentiment

Customer support is often the deciding factor when technical issues arise during a sale or a major campaign launch.

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards makes its support a primary selling point. The founder highlights a "world class customer success team" that focuses on driving retention metrics. With 24/7 live chat support and a high rating of 4.8 (though based on only one review), the initial signal is one of high responsiveness and quality. The commitment to shipping product updates every week also suggests a proactive approach to maintenance and improvement.

Beans: Loyalty & Rewards has a rating of 3.5 based on three reviews. In the Shopify ecosystem, a 3.5 rating often suggests that while the core functionality works, some users may have experienced challenges with the setup process, app performance, or support responsiveness. Merchants choosing Beans should be prepared for a potentially more hands-on setup process compared to more highly rated alternatives. However, the app's longevity and focus on gamification still make it a contender for specific niches.

The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform

While specialized loyalty apps like Rivo and Beans provide valuable features, they often contribute to a broader problem known as "app fatigue." As a Shopify store grows, the tendency is to add a separate app for every function: one for loyalty, one for reviews, another for wishlists, and another for referrals. This "app sprawl" leads to several operational challenges. Every additional app can slow down site speed, increase the risk of code conflicts, and create data silos where customer information is fragmented across different dashboards. Furthermore, the total cost of ownership rises as monthly subscriptions for multiple apps stack up.

If consolidating tools is a priority, start by choosing a plan built for long-term value. Moving toward an integrated platform allows merchants to maintain a lean tech stack while providing a more consistent experience for the customer. When loyalty programs, reviews, and wishlists all live under one roof, the data flows seamlessly between them. For example, a merchant can automatically reward a customer with loyalty points for leaving a high-quality review, all without setting up complex third-party integrations. This synergy is the core of the "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy, where the focus is on outcomes rather than managing a collection of disparate tools.

An integrated approach significantly improves the customer journey. Using loyalty programs that keep customers coming back in tandem with automated review requests ensures that every touchpoint reinforces the brand. When a customer sees their point balance while browsing a product they previously added to their wishlist, the incentive to complete the purchase becomes much stronger. This unified view of the customer allows for more sophisticated marketing strategies that reward mechanics that support customer lifetime value effectively.

Moreover, the impact on conversion is magnified when social proof and rewards are combined. By collecting and showcasing authentic customer reviews, brands build the trust necessary for new visitors to convert. These reviews that reduce uncertainty for new buyers are even more powerful when they are tied to a loyalty program that encourages repeat engagement. Merchants no longer have to worry about whether their review app is talking to their loyalty app; the integration is native and robust.

For brands that are scaling quickly, the technical overhead of managing multiple developers or support teams for various apps is a significant drain on resources. A platform like Growave provides a single point of contact and a unified dashboard, making it easier to train team members and maintain a clear overview of retention metrics. To see how this looks in practice, merchants can benefit from a walkthrough that clarifies implementation expectations or request a tailored walkthrough based on store goals and constraints to ensure the platform fits their specific business model. This strategic consolidation not only reduces costs but also provides the stability needed for long-term growth.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards and Beans: Loyalty & Rewards, the decision comes down to the specific goals of the store and the desired pricing structure. Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards is an excellent choice for modern DTC brands that value rapid product iteration and high-touch support, especially those on Shopify Plus or those planning to scale quickly. Its focus on the latest Shopify tech and its developer-friendly Plus plan make it a future-proof option. On the other hand, Beans: Loyalty & Rewards offers a predictable order-based pricing model and a focus on gamification and social actions, which may appeal to stores that want a structured way to grow their social presence.

However, as stores grow, the limitations of using multiple single-function apps often become apparent. Fragmented data and rising costs can hinder the ability to execute a truly cohesive retention strategy. Integrated platforms offer a path toward choosing a plan built for long-term value by bringing loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlists into a single, high-performance ecosystem. This not only streamlines the merchant experience but also creates a more friction-free journey for the customer, ultimately leading to higher lifetime value and more sustainable growth.

To reduce app fatigue and run retention from one place, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

Which app is better for a store just starting out?

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards offers a "Free Forever" plan for up to 200 orders, which provides a low-risk entry point for new stores. Beans: Loyalty & Rewards starts at $29 for 100 orders, making it a more immediate investment for very small stores. If the budget is the primary concern, Rivo’s free tier is a strong starting point.

Can I migrate my existing points data to these apps?

Most loyalty apps, including Rivo and Beans, offer data import tools to help merchants move their existing customer points and reward history. Rivo’s customer success team, as mentioned in their description, is particularly focused on helping with these types of transitions to ensure retention metrics are not negatively impacted during the move.

How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?

A specialized app often focuses deeply on one niche, such as loyalty or reviews, offering highly specific features. An all-in-one platform, however, provides better value for money and lower operational overhead by integrating these features. This integration allows for cross-functional workflows, such as giving points for reviews or wishlisting, which are harder to coordinate across separate apps. It also ensures a consistent user interface for the customer across all parts of the loyalty and social proof experience.

Are these apps compatible with Shopify Plus?

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards is explicitly built for Shopify Plus readiness, offering features like Checkout Extensions and a developer toolkit on its Plus plan. Beans: Loyalty & Rewards can be used on Plus stores, but its pricing scales primarily by order volume, which can lead to higher costs for enterprise-level merchants compared to feature-based tiers.

How do order limits affect my loyalty program?

Order-based pricing, like that found in Beans: Loyalty & Rewards, means your costs will increase as your store becomes more successful, regardless of which features you use. Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards also has an order limit on its free plan, but its Scale plan transitions to a feature-based model, which can be more economical for high-volume stores that don't need the most advanced enterprise tools. Always check evaluating feature coverage across plans to see which model fits your current and projected order volume.

Which app offers better customization for branding?

Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards provides custom CSS and font options on its $49 Scale plan, making it very flexible for brands that want a specific look. Beans: Loyalty & Rewards allows for customization of the rewards page and widget, but the developer-centric tools in Rivo's higher tiers offer a deeper level of control for brands with unique design requirements. Merchants should consider comparing plan fit against retention goals to determine how much branding control they truly need.

Is social proof integrated into these loyalty apps?

Beans: Loyalty & Rewards has a strong focus on social actions, allowing merchants to reward customers for social media engagement. Rivo: Loyalty Program, Rewards focuses more on the loyalty and referral loop. Neither app is a dedicated review platform, which is why many merchants look at scanning reviews to understand real-world adoption of integrated platforms that handle both loyalty and social proof in one place.